Operation: Runaway
by Aquade
Summary: How many penguins does it take to properly babysit four ducklings? "Eggy, don't you dare drop that—" Boom! "Gah!" Apparently more than anybody had thought. "Who knew babysitting was so hard?" "How in the world did this happen?" ON HIATUS
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, everyone! It's me again with a new story! Enjoy! :)**

**P.S: The title's still a working progress so feel free to suggest anything. ;)**

* * *

**Chapter One**

"Don't worry, Momma Duck. We'll take care of them for you," Skipper reassured the mother calmly.

"Oh, I trust you boys," Momma Duck replied, although she kept sneaking a glance at Rico. "But I'm more worried about my children. You see, they can be—"

"I assure you, we have everything under control," Skipper cut in smoothly. "And I'll personally make sure my boys don't do anything dangerous."

"Well," Momma Duck looked unsure. "I don't know about this. I'll be gone for a week, and this is the longest I've been away since. Perhaps I should bring them along—"

"There's no need," Skipper assured once more. "We have everything under control. We _are _an elite force of soldiers, you know."

Before the other could answer, Private stepped up next to his leader, ignoring Bradley who was attempting to climb his flipper. "We'll take great care of them," he said sincerely. "You don't need to worry at all!"

She chuckled, gently tugging away her son from his vigorous attack on the penguin's flipper. "If you insist, then." She called her children to her. "Now, you all be good to the penguins, here, all right? They're in charge while I'm gone, so I want you to do whatever they say. Do you hear me?"

"Yes, Mom," they chorused. "We'll be good."

She laughed at their act. "Now where have I heard _that _before?" Her children grinned up innocently at her. Momma Duck turned to the penguins. "If they're naughty or anything, don't be afraid to punish them or give them timeouts." She thought for a while. "But no military stuff, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Momma Duck sighed, giving each of her children a kiss on their foreheads. She flapped her wings a few times before flying. "Be good!"

"Bye!"

"Have a safe trip!"

"See you soon, Mom!"

They waved until she was merely a spot against the horizon.

Skipper sharply spun on his heel, gazing at the small ducklings. "All right, soldiers. It's getting late, so we'd better get back soon. Private and Kowalski, lead the way. Rico and I will stay at the end to pick up any stragglers," he said this with a crafty grin.

The ducklings looked at him with wide eyes. Eggy raised a wing. "Mister Penguin, sir? What will we be doing while Mom is gone?"

"Arts and Craft!" answered Private excitedly. "And plays and stories!"

"And more," Skipper quickly hushed Private before the youngster could say more. They hadn't really stocked up for anything of those things, and Skipper didn't want to disappoint the ducklings….

Eggy grinned, nudging Samuel and whispering something in his ear, causing both of them to bend over with laughter. Skipper raised a brow at this but shook his head. Eh, it couldn't be anything harmful. Goodness knows _he _had whispered things to his friends as a cadet.

"All right," he clapped his flippers. "Let's get a move on if we want to get back before dark."

They waddled back to the zoo in a straight line. Skipper smiled to himself as he watched the ducklings walk obediently behind each other. Well, this was easier than he had thought! Besides, how hard could it be?

* * *

"Eggy, don't you dare drop that—"

**Boom!**

"Gah!"

Kowalski clenched his flippers as his precious mixture fell to the ground, creating a miniature explosion. His eyes tore away from the broken glass up to the grinning duckling on the stool. A touch on his shoulder turned his head back. Skipper shook his head warningly. "No, you can't strangle him."

"But—"

"I know."

Skipper mentioned for Private to come and scoop Eggy up. The penguin waddled out of the lab as Kowalski gaped at Skipper. "He's going to get off just like that? I thought we had better discipline!"

Skipper winced. "As much as I would like to pound some good old fashioned army sense into them, you know what Momma Duck said. No military stuff. We barely got Eggy to take up dancing, and that was only by luck – I don't like to base anything on luck."

"No! Samuel! Come back here!"

The two penguins glanced at each other before tearing out of the lab to find the main room in chaos. Skipper pressed a flipper to his forehead, shaking his head slightly. "Who knew babysitting was so hard?"

Kowalski looked at the room with wide eyes. "How in the world did this happen?"

At this moment, Private came running in, panting. "The ducklings have run away. They're being led by Eggy. Apparently, he used his military knowledge for pranks and stuff."

Skipper couldn't help but smile at that. "Ah, that would be from me. I still remember my tricks as a cadet."

"With all due respect, sir, this is not the time!"

"You're right. Move out, boys."

"Hold on." Kowalski stopped Skipper before he could move to the ladder. "Where's Rico?"

"Aerial surveillance," answered Private. "He'll be relaying their position to us."

"But how does he see the ducklings from the air?" wondered Kowalski.

Private shifted nervously. "They, uh, took the car."

"What?!"

"I believe what Private said was that they took the car, sir."

"I heard him the first time, Kowalski." Skipper took a deep breath. "All right. Here's what we're doing. Private, make sure Rico hears this through that radio I'm _sure _you gave him."

* * *

"Lady and gentlemen, commence Operation: Uh…. Samuel? Any suggestions?" Eggy frowned, pausing in his march in front of of his siblings.

His brother shrugged. "Not right now."

"Hmm… all right then. We'll just call it Operation: Runaway for now," the duckling concluded. "Sound good?"

There was a series of yes before Eggy raised his wing for silence. "Now, we need a place to lie low. Samuel?"

His brother sharply marched up to stand in front. "I suggest driving down to the harbor and lying low in one of the warehouses until we can figure out what our next plan of action is."

Ramona raised a wing. "Do we take the car again?"

Eggy shook his head. "By now, they should already know we took their vehicle and will be looking for it. We'll go on foot, riding on buses when we have the chance. Plus, it's less noticeable that way."

Bradley inclined his head. "Then why didn't we do it earlier?"

"We were aiming for speed. If we had gone on foot, the penguins would have a smaller area to cover once Kowalski does his equations. This makes for a larger search area, which is better for us because it buys us time."

"That make sense," Ramona thought out loud. "But which route do we take?"

At this, Eggy grinned, nodding to Samuel who tossed a folded sheet of paper to his sister. "Catch."

Ramona caught it, briefly scanning the map before raising a brow at her brothers. Samuel shrugged. "Hey, you're the only one here who actually took the time to learn to read."

Sighing, she unfolded the map, laying it on the ground and walking on it as she searched for their position. At last, she pointed to a spot. "We're approximately over here, so all we need to do is follow this road to the next junction, take a left, then a right, go straight, then we're done."

"Done?" repeated Bradley.

"We reached the harbor, genius."

"Oh. So do we move out?"

Eggy shrugged. "Sure, why not? The sooner the better."

* * *

**Well, that's the first chapter. What did you all think?**


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm back, people! :D Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

Blowhole was giving a quick briefing about his latest plan to flood the world when the beeping started. Of course, at first he had tried to ignore it, continuing to flip the slides. "And after the machine is fired, we'll—" He couldn't take it anymore. "Where is that annoying beeping coming from? Who forgot to keep their phone on silent again?"

His lobsters glanced at each other warily, some of them glaring at a particular colleague who had done that mistake the last time. Said lobster's eyes widened when he felt everyone's attention on him, shrugging. "It's not me this time." For proof, he held up his phone.

Frowning, they all looked around the room once more, straining their ears. At last, one of the lobsters pointed to Blowhole's personal bag, which had been lying on the table. "I think it's coming from over there, Doc."

As soon as the words left his mouth, the others began nodding, supporting his answer. "Yes, definitely."

"The high ceilings make it hard to hear, but it's most likely coming from there."

"Hey, Doc, do you have an important call coming?"

He ignored their comments, choosing instead to drag the bag across the table and open it. At first, he couldn't see any phone in the bag, but he soon located a small red light beeping from a rectangular transmitter. It came to him in a rush – what he had done in the early morning.

He picked up the communication device. "Red One? What's the status on the mission?"

The radio cackled for a second – static filling the empty room – before his trusty lieutenant answered. "The trap is secure, Doc, but I think you might have to wait a while before it's sprung."

"What? What do you mean?"

"The penguins are gone, sir. They've left holograms of themselves to fool the humans."

Blowhole thought for a while before grinning. "That's brilliant!"

"Doc?"

"See if you can find anything of importance, and steal it."

"Already done." See, this was why he had sent his lieutenant as head of the mission. "But everything is hidden securely. They're not taking any chances with their belongings."

So much for that idea.

"Very well, then. Report back, and we'll try to locate them."

"On our w—"

A thud was heard before static occupied the room once more. Blowhole took the device from his ear and looked down at it, shaking it slightly before returning it to his ear. "Hello? Red One?"

Silence.

* * *

"Kowalski, any sign of the ducklings?" Skipper sat in the driver's seat of their blue truck, Kowalski positioned at the back.

"No, sir. The positioning device I placed on the car is still out of range too. Wait! I got something!"

"Well, spit it out!"

"Two clicks east of our position."

"Kowalski, what have I told you about using the metric system."

"But it's army language!"

"I don't care."

Kowalski face-flippered. "Around 1.5 miles."

Skipper thought for a while. "Around those abandoned warehouses?"

"Affirmative."

Skipper switched the frequency on his radio so that Rico and Private could hear him. "Boys, you know that abandoned warehouses down near the docks? The car's there."

"Yes, sir."

"Aye, Skipper."

Kowalski frowned at the monitor. "Skipper?"

"What is it?"

"It's not moving."

"Kowalski, I have no idea what you're talking about. If it's you tracking Doris again, the unmoving dot means she found the transmitter and threw it back into the ocean. I'll bet five fish she's on her way here now to chew you out."

"What? No, it's not that." Kowalski shook his head. "The car. It's not moving."

Skipper pondered that for a while before picking up the radio once more. "Rico? This is Skipper. Keep your position in the air. We might be on the road soon."

* * *

Dr. Theodore Emerson checked his watch, absentmindedly returning a greeting to one of his fellow co-workers. What'd you know. He had time for a long lunch break today.

"Going out for lunch, doctor?"

"Huh?" He looked up to see a friend of his, Lucy, smile at him. "Oh, yes. I suppose so."

"It's good to see you up and about. I know you love the animals, but you have to find some time to mingle too." She waved goodbye at him, helping to lead a young boy carrying a small puppy and his mother into one of the many offices.

Theodore continued to smile faintly as he walked toward the exit, occasionally lending a hand in the case of a difficult patient. At last, he breathed in the cool fresh air, taking a moment to wipe his glasses with his shirt. He glanced by proudly at the animal hospital before following the crowd.

Truth be told, it took him five minutes of mindless walking for him to locate a hotdog stand. He had only waited for ten seconds before the words registered in his mind. Hotdog. _Hot_dog. Hot_dog_! Goodness gracious he had forgotten poor Emmet.

* * *

Now, Emmet's real name was actually Elmer – or at least that was what he thought it was. He didn't quite get why the human kept saying Emmet while looking at him. At least not until a week ago. Emmet was not his name, though; but the human was closer than the others. Anyway, there was daily walks, food, water, and a comfortable spot beside to fireplace so who was he to complain?

At this instant, however, he was disgruntled. He had been staring at the door for over thirty minutes now, and there were still no sound or smell of his master. Finally, he sat down – although it was only for a while before he started whining again, slightly scratching the door.

He sat down again – this time for five minutes – before lying on his stomach, watching the door mournfully. Then he stood up again, pacing against the room before freezing, his ears pricked up. Did his ears deceive him? No! It really was his human! To celebrate, he decided to bark loud enough to wake the entire neighborhood.

* * *

_It really wasn't Emmet's fault, _thought Theodore as he unlocked the door. In fact, it was anything but Emmet's fault. The door swung open, and he expected to feel the huge weight from the dog knocking him to the ground. What he saw was much more surprising.

Emmet sat on the ground – and if dogs had facial features, Theodore would say his dog was glaring at him. Still he found himself reaching for the leash and hatching it on the red collar. "Sorry, Emmet, old chap. I'd forgotten about you."

Despite the way the apology was said, Elmer found it in himself to give the human a big sloppy kiss, placing a hand on his shoulder and tilting his head.

Theodore grinned widely, slipping his hand in to show Emmet what he had gotten for him. The dog gobbled the remainder of the hotdog in seconds.

* * *

Eggy stuck his head out from under the bench. "Ramona, which way next?"

His sister popped out from behind a lamppost, glaring at him. "Oh, for goodness's sakes, I repeated the directions three times already! Can't you remember it?"

"We don't have to remember anything. _You're_ the map reader," Samuel pointed out, quickly waddling to stand beside Eggy.

"Aren't we close to the harbor already?" asked Bradley, perched under a mailbox.

"How should I know – Dog!" Samuel cried the warning.

They all hid behind their covers. Unfortunately, Bradley had already been spotted. Ramona watched with wide eyes as the dog sniffed under the mailbox, inches away from blowing her brother's cover. "Uh, oh. Bradley's in trouble, guys!"

Eggy looked around. "Quick! We need a distraction!"

"Over there!" Samuel pointed.

Eggy followed his gaze, grinning as he saw what his brother had located. "Perfect."


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey, everyone! Here's a new chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Just as I thought. Abandoned." Skipper couldn't help smiling proudly. "You have to admit, Kowalski. We gave that kid a perfect military training. He would have made an amazing general one day."

"Sir, I think we have more pressing concerns now. Some of which include: Where in the world are the ducklings?"

"Relax, Kowalski. We'll find them."

"No, Skipper. You've never seen an angry mother before. We _have _to find the ducklings before Momma Duck comes back or we're all dead."

"All right, Kowalski. We'll find the ducklings, don't worry." Skipper pried Kowalski's flippers off him as Private hopped into the car.

"There's still gas, sir."

"Excellent. Kowalski, you're taking Private's place in the sewers. You're the one who will be able to get anywhere the fastest – not counting Rico. I'll continue with the truck."

His radio crackled t life, Rico's voice frantically coming through it. Skipper listened to the message, his eyes growing wider with each garbled word. He glanced up at the rest of his worried teammates. "Get into your cars, boys. Rico found the ducklings, but it looks like their cover's about to be blown."

* * *

"What in the world could be of interest in that mailbox, Emmet?"

Theodore tried to pry his dog away to no avail. He bent down to look, only to give a gasp of surprise. Under the mailbox huddled a small yellow tuff of feathers – a baby duck. He held out his hand, keeping his voice calm and steady. "Hello, little one. What are you doing alone in the city?"

* * *

"Bradley's found!" cried Ramona. "Whatever you two are planning, you'd better do it now!"

"We need more time!" Samuel replied back.

Eggy took a deep breath to calm himself. "Panicking will do no good," he told them. "Ramona, jump out and try to get that dog and human to forget Bradley."

Reassured by the command, Ramona abandoned her cover. "Hey, you sobering beast! Leave my brother alone!"

* * *

Elmer looked up at the taunting voice to see yet another yellow creature dancing. He shook his head, trying to make sense of it. Glancing back down, he confirmed to himself that there was indeed two of the strange animals. Overjoyed, he took a bounding step toward it before choking as the human still held his leash.

* * *

Theodore couldn't believe his eyes. There was another duckling? Was there a whole nest somewhere? He kept a firm grip on the panting dog, trying to think of the best course of action. If he hadn't been learning about animals for years, he would have sworn the duckling was taunting Emmet. But that was impossible. Nothing like that could ever happen.

* * *

"Second Avenue, boys!" Skipper relayed the message. "The corner when it meets with Thirty-Second Street."

"Five minutes to destination, Skipper," Kowalski informed.

"We're a minute behind, Kowalski. Of course, if Private continues driving the way he does, he'll be ten minutes late."

"Well, ex_cuse_ me if I obey the rules of the road, sir!" Private frowned, although none of his teammates could see him.

"I didn't say anything bad about it, Private. Just that there are times when you need to drive like there's no tomorrow."

"Skipper, I'm here." Kowalski slammed on his brakes, hopping out of the car.

"Talk to me, then."

The tall penguin pried the manhole open, peeking out before gasping softly. "It's not looking good for them, Skipper. They're cornered in all directions. Wait! I think Samuel is leading Eggy somewhere with Ramona as a distraction. I think they have a plan, sir—"

At this moment, a car rolled over the open cover, abruptly sending it shut and Kowalski stumbling down. Skipper stared worriedly as the radio suddenly elapsed into silence. "Kowalski?"

At last, he heard a groan before Kowalski's voice reached his ears. "I'm all right, Skipper. A car just rolled over the cover, and—" Kowalski grunted as he tried to push it open once more. "—it sealed it shut tightly. I'm blind, Skipper."

Skipper dangerously swerved as he switched lanes. "How soon can you get to another opening?"

"One minute, three tops."

"All right, I'm nearly there. I'll see what I can do."

* * *

"Haha! We're back in business!" Eggy stood at the front of the skateboard, leaning left and right to steer.

At the sight of her brothers, Ramona stopped in her little dance, staring at them. "What in the world are you doing?"

"Saving you," Eggy answered. "And Bradley."

Samuel leaned over, a wing outstretched. "Bradley! Take my wing!"

Bradley ran over and jumped just in time to catch the wing. Samuel pulled him up just as Eggy reached down to get Ramona. "Everybody here?" asked Eggy.

Samuel had started nodding when his eyes widened. "Eggy, look out!"

* * *

At the sight of a skateboard and even more of the feathery creatures, Elmer began bouncing around wildly, his tongue rolling out of his mouth. The sight was too much for him. With a great leap, he tore away from the human, chasing after the skateboard, oblivious to the shouts behind him.

"Emmet!"

* * *

Skipper slammed on his brakes as a skateboard holding the ducklings whizzed by, followed by a huge dog that looked vaguely familiar and a frantic human. He shook his head, running a red light, and took out the radio. "Boys, change of plan. Rico will be replaying the ducklings' position to us."

"Did you find the ducklings, sir?" asked Private.

"Kinda, but they're on the move again."

* * *

"Dog on our tail!" reported Bradley. "And he's gaining. Fast!"

Eggy looked back at his siblings. "Hang on tight. I'm going to try to shake him off."

"Serpentine?" asked Samuel with a knowing grin.

Eggy returned the smile. "Serpentine."

* * *

Elmer took a flying leap and overtook the skateboard. Grinning widely, he spun to face it, only to have the skateboard crash into his front legs and the creatures flying. He yelped, jumping backward before turning to glare at the skateboard, then at the other animals. "That hurt!"

The yellow creatures, huddled together. "Please don't eat us!"

Elmer shook his head before panting and sitting down. "I don't like feathers. Pah! But that was a good chase!" He cocked his head. "Wanna do it again?"

* * *

Theodore finally caught up to his dog. Breathing heavily, he snatched up the leash, this time ensuring that the loop was attached to his wrist. He then took a deep breath, examining the ducklings. His mind made up, he scooped them up with a hand.

Theodore looked down at Emmet, sighing. "Come on, boy. Let's go home. Then I'll take these ducklings to the hospital to check on their health."

* * *

**And that's the third chapter! What did you think of it?**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey, all you readers! I apologize for the long wait. School's been really busy and- yeah, you don't want to hear my excuses when you have a whole chapter waiting down there. XD Anywho, sorry for the long wait, and enjoy!**

* * *

Red dragged the squirming bag behind him, breathing heavily. Taking a deep breath, he leaned against a tree, noting his position. A grin snuck across his face as he realized his destination was at the next tree. "Only five meters to go," he said to himself, preparing to carry the sack again.

"What're you doing?"

Startled, the squirrel dropped his catch, his lone eye immediately pinpointing the voice's location. Another squirrel stood on a branch – brownish gold fur and lazy eyes. Red recognized him immediately. Fred – not the brightest squirrel he'd ever met, but the easiest to manipulate. Something Red desperately needed before he kneeled over from exhaustion.

"I'm dragging something back to my house," the villain replied. "Care to lend a hand?"

Fred looked back at the hole in the tree trunk before shrugging, scampering down the tree. "All right, but I can't stay long. My grandma is asleep so we'll have to be quiet."

"Um hmm… sure. Whatever you say." Red all but shoved the bag into the other squirrel's paws. "Here, take this. I'll go on ahead to key in all the codes."

Before Fred could reply, Red had already disappeared. The mammal looked down at the squirming bag before picking it up, grunting as he frowned. "I don't know what he has in here, but it sure is heavy! Not to mention alive. Bleh."

* * *

The room was completely silent if one looked over the clicks as lobsters rapidly tapped the computers, bring various pictures from traffic videos. At last, one of the lobsters gasped, tapping on his partner before the picture slid into another. "Wait! Over there! Do you see that?"

His friend squinted at the screen before breaking out into a huge grin. "We've located the penguins' position, Doc!"

Within seconds, the sound of a Segway reached their ears, and Dr. Blowhole slid up next to them. "Really? Where are they?"

"Downtown, crossing the streets on some sort of chase. Or at least according to this picture from around a minute ago."

"Good. That narrows our search. Tell the others about the new search area. I want cameras tracking them before the hour is up."

"Sure thing, Doc."

* * *

"Welcome back, Dr. Emerson," teased Lucy, as she walked past him with a box of kittens in her hands. "Back so soon?" She smiled at the bundle he carried. "And I see you brought guests!"

Theodore returned her smile, nodding. "Emmet found this group of ducklings in the middle of the city. I'm going to give them a quick checkup before returning them to the park."

Lucy shifted the box. "Well, then. Good luck with that. I have to bring these kittens back to their mother before she becomes sick with worry."

* * *

"We lost them."

It came out as a statement as Skipper rubbed his temples. He couldn't believe it. They were so close, right at flippers' reach and then – nothing. That human took them away. This complicated matters so much. The worst thing was that his team had not taken the hit well. In fact, it was an unsuspecting blow to the gut. It hurt once the shock wore off.

Private was staring and frowning at the gray walls – his eyes unfocused, mind wandering. Kowalski on the edge of panicking, pacing back and forth as he threw his flippers up at random intervals while he mumbled about something too low to hear. Rico… well, Skipper wasn't quite sure about his teammate. The penguin was sitting with his back to the wall, chewing his flipper while the other one held a flamethrower.

How Skipper needed an aspirin for the headache pounding in his head. No! He was _not _going to be brought down by what was supposed to be a simple case of babysitting. For goodness sakes, they were the elitest of the elite! Top-shelf on the bureau. Not some nancy-cats sitting here waiting for fate.

The penguin leader took a deep breath, gaze sweeping over his team before he barked. "Up on your feet, men! We have a mission to accomplish."

* * *

"What are we going to do?" Ramona harshly whispered into her brother's ear. "Who knows what he's going to do with us?"

They had long since been moved to a cage, sitting on the desk as they awaited their doom. Eggy rubbed a flipper over his eyes, letting out a deep breath. "I'm working on a plan." He glanced at his brother. "Bradley! How's the fitting going?"

The duckling attempted to stick his head through a gap between the bars – to no avail. "It's too small!" he answered.

"I thought so," Eggy murmured to himself. "So we'll need something else."

At this, Ramona slapped her forehead, slumping down on the ground. "That's it, we're doomed."

"Don't be so pessimistic," frowned Samuel. "It's bad for the morale of the team."

"Do ya even _hear _him?"

"Wait!" exclaimed Eggy, cutting off all conversation. "All we need to do is get to there!" He pointed.

Ramona squinted before sighing. "That's so far away! We'll never make it in time! You might as well slam this cage to the ground!"

Eggy grinned, his eyes shining. "Believe it or not, that's Plan B."

"We're doomed."

* * *

"Dump them in here," Red ordered absentmindedly, waving towards the cage filling up an end of the wall.

Fred did as he was told, sitting down to watch the squirming bunch until Red nearly tripped over him. The villain stumbled forward a few steps before glaring. "What are you still doing here?"

"Watching."

"What— Never mind." Red blinked. "You know you can go now, right?"

"I would." Fred glanced at one of the many camera monitors placed all over the park. "But there appears to be two penguins standing outside, and they don't look friendly."

"There are no pen—" Red trailed off before groaning. "Oh for goodness sakes, when did they come along?"

* * *

"I say we just charge in," Buck Rockgut insisted again. "And catch Red by surprise."

"No!" Nigel insisted. "We can't just charge in without a plan!" He paused before face-flippering himself. "What are you doing?"

"Following _my _plan."

"You can't do that! I'm in charge of this mission!"

"No, _I _am!"

"Well, we can't both be leaders."

"You're British Intelligence. I'm American Intelligence. We're standing on American soil. Therefore, I'm leader."

"That doesn't even make sense! Besides, _I'm _the mentally sane one here."

"Well—" Buck never finished his sentence as the ground underneath them slid open, and the two penguin agents tumbled down.

* * *

"And push!"

The cage tilted forward, and the ducklings fell face-down on the table. "I'm going to be bruised all over before we even reach it," grumbled Ramona as they leaned against the bars of the cage once more.

"If you have a better idea," Samuel shot back. "Now would be a perfect time to speak up."

The door creaked open before the conversation could escalate, revealing the same man who brought them in. He blinked once before rubbing his eyes and seemingly having an eternal argument about whether or not he should say anything. At last he sighed, righting the cage again before opening the door of the cage.

Bradley could only widen his eyes as the hand closed on him and pulled him out, much to the distress of his siblings. "W-what's going on?"

"Stay strong, Bradley!" yelled Eggy, clutching the bars of the cage. "We'll rescue you!"

* * *

**Dun! Dun! Dun! There's a lot of things going on in this chapter as well as more characters introduced. ;D Stay tuned for the next chapter if you want to see:**

**1\. What Red is carrying in that sack of his**

**2\. Whether Buck and Nigel will survive being paired up in the same team**

**3\. If the penguins will find, not to mention rescue, the ducklings**

**4\. If Fred will turn to the 'dark side' XD**

**5\. What's Dr. Blowhole up to**

**and 6. Will the ducklings be all right?**

**Or perhaps you've already figured out what some of these questions are. If so, don't be afraid to offer up your suggestions in a review or PM!**

**Until next time...**


	5. Chapter 5

***braces self for angry readers* I know, I know. It's been a long time since the last update... Sorry... so every sorry. So, I'll stop making this author's note longer, and let you get on with the story.**

* * *

**Chapter Five**

"What do you think you're doing?" Red glared down at the tumbled mess that made up the penguin agents.

At the sound of the villain's voice, both Buck and Nigel attempted to stand up, only to fall back down. They glared at each other. "Get your foot off my face!" yelled Buck.

"Then you get your flipper away from my eye!"

Red face-pawed. "I'm surrounded by idiots."

"What are they doing?" Fred came to stand behind the other squirrel, a bored expression on his face. "Are they wrestling?"

The agents paused in their movements, staring at the brownish-gray squirrel. "Who are you?" asked Nigel. He then gasped. "You've finally done it, haven't you? You recruited him as an evil minion!"

Hearing this, a horrified expression crept across Buck's face. "Don't do this, kid. This is wrong! It's so wrong! You have so much more in front of you!"

Fred tilted his head, now thoroughly confused. "What are they talking about?" He turned to Red for answers.

Red sighed. "Don't ask. You don't want to know."

Nigel's eyes widened as the squirming bag in the cage opened to reveal the other captives. He got up, dusting himself off. "Is that—"

~§~

"Swerve! Brake! Anything!"

Kowalski twisted the steering hard to the left, applying the brake at the same time. The car skidded on the road, dust churning up everywhere. They stopped inches away, all the penguins panting hard. At last, Skipper slapped Kowalski on the back, grinning broadly. "Nice driving, Kowalski! We'll make an escape artist out of you yet."

Kowalski merely shook his head. "I'm not driving next."

Rico immediately raised a flipper. "Ooh! Ooh! Me!"

"No. You wrecked the entire city the last time!"

"Awww."

Sighing, Private jumped out of the pink car, waddling as he waved dust away. "Sorry about that, Max. We nearly didn't see you until it was too late."

The stripped cat attempted to disguise his fear, swiping the penguin's concern away. "Aw, no worries. It was my fault anyway."

Skipper came up to them, flippers loosely held by his side. "So, what brings you to this part of town, Moon Cat?"

"It's Max," the other tried again. "You know that, right?"

"I told you, the name just sticks."

Max sighed. "Well, anyway, I'm just trying to get up there." He pointed to an open window.

Kowalski looked up, immediately taking out his clipboard and calculating statistics. "Why?"

"Trying to get Elmer back." Max kicked a loose pebble.

"Get Elmer back?" repeated Private. "Who took him in the first place?"

"The pound." Max clenched his paws. "Those no-good, yellow-bellied, low lives!"

Rico gasped before stopping, his head titled comically. "Hold on. The pound is up there?" He pointed at the open window with a beautiful array of flowers surrounding it.

"Of course not!"

"Then?" They were all thoroughly confused.

"This human came along and adopted him."

"Isn't that a good thing?" asked Private.

Max hesistated. "Yes….. But I want him back!"

Silence before Skipper shrugged. "Makes sense. By the way, you don't happen to see four ducklings recently, do you?"

Max shook his head. "No. But Elmer has been all over the place on his walks. I know because I followed him and occasionally talk to him. Trust me; my pads were burning by the time we finished."

Skipper's brows furrowed in thought. There was something nagging him. Something important. "That's it!"

"What is it?" asked Kowalski, looking up from his calculations.

"That dog I saw earlier chasing the ducklings! It was Elmer!"

~§~

"Marlene!" Julien bounced into the otter's habitat with a wide grin on his face. "I am to be needing the key."

Said otter raised a cautious brow. "And which key is this, Julien?"

"Oh, you know. The key to the penguin's habitat."

"Nuh uh. No way."

"Why not?" whined the lemur king. "I am the king! I am to be needing it, so you are to be giving me!"

Marlene sighed. "Julien, you and I both know that the penguins trusted me with the key to their HQ. Me! I don't betray people's trust like that."

"Well, then, it is to be a good thing that they are not peoples, eh?"

"Why do you even need it anyway?"

"Eh….."

"Get out!"

~§~

"Gah! It's a needle!" screamed Bradley. "A big needle! And he wants to stick it in me!"

There was a thud before Theodore cursed, putting the needle on the table and chasing after the duckling. "Come back here! It's only a routine shot!"

"Maybe for you!" Bradley shot back, sliding under a table. "It's definitely not routine for me!"

The other ducklings exchanged a look at the commotion coming from the opposite room. At last, Eggy snapped out of his thoughts. "All right, troops. Bradley's brought us some time, but we need to get out of here fast."

Samuel shook his head. "I still can't decipher the lock, Eggy."

Ramona quickly judged the distance from the cage to the paperclip. "We won't make it in time."

As if on cue, Bradley screamed once more before cackling madly. "You'll never catch me. Ahh!"

Eggy blinked twice before scanning the room for more options. Coming up with none, he turned to look at the remainder of his troops. "All right then, it's time for Plan B – aka now Plan C."

"Tipping the cage down?" clarified Samuel with a horrified look.

"We won't survive!" Ramona tried reasoning.

Eggy fixed them with a glare. "But we have to try! Who know what Bradley's going through in there! We never leave a duck behind. Never! Remember?"

Both Samuel and Ramona looked away sadly, reliving the memories of their fallen comrade. They nodded. "All right. Let's do this."

Eggy grinned proudly. "Position yourself!" he ordered, bracing his flippers against the cage. His siblings quickly did the same. "And push!"

~§~

"They're lobsters." Buck stated, blinking. "Blowhole's lobster's if I'm not mistaken."

"What the—Blowhole's lobsters?" Red spun around to see two bright red lobsters rubbing their heads. "I was trying to kidnap the penguins!"

"That can be used against you in court," Nigel said absentmindedly. "Careful what you say, Red."

"Oh for goodness sakes!" Red quickly tied the two agents up and threw them into a spare cage before turning to the lobsters. "Now, what in the world were you doing in the penguin's habitat? And where are the penguins?"

* * *

**Notes The duckling's 'fallen comrade' is one of their siblings... yes, it's a canon character. Not an OC. If you recall, the first episode that featured the ducklings showed 5 of them, and the second one showed only 4...  
**


	6. Chapter 6

****In my defense... yeah, I don't have a defense. Sorry for the late update... hopefully the next one will be faster... hopefully... *sheepish look*****

* * *

"What do you mean you lost them?" thundered Blowhole.

"Exactly that!" the lobster explained, exasperated. "We just lost them. One second they were right there, and next, Bob tripped over the wire and the screen turned static. By the time we got anything fixed, they were gone."

Blowhole became dangerously calm. "And where is this Bob right now?"

The lobster inched backwards. "Bathroom duty for six months. He's been punished, don't worry."

Blowhole resisted the urge to scream. "What about Red One? Have you found him?"

"Well, we pinpointed the location to somewhere in Central Park, so we know they're still in Manhattan."

Blowhole spun on his Segway, speeding to the door. "I want definite results by six pm! Understood?"

The lobster's face took on a desperate expression but nodded. "Sure thing, boss."

~§~

"Well, how should we know where the penguins are?" Red One shot back. "We were trying to put down a trap for them!"

"Again," Nigel cut in. "Evidence against you."

Red glared at him. "So help me, Nigel, if you say that again, I will gag you."

"With what?" asked Fred, scratching his ear. "I don't see any pieces of cloth here."

"I'll improvise!" Red snapped. "You can go, now, you know."

"I would," agreed Fred. "After all, grandma is about to wake, I think. But I can't seem to find the exit."

Red clenched his paws and pushed down the thought of strangling Fred. "Just follow me!"

~§~

Theodore finally caught the duckling in a hand when he heard a dreadful crashing from the other room. He groaned. "What now?"

He opened the door to the sight of the cage on the ground, the small wire door opened and an entire side of the cage twisted. Not only that, but the cage was also empty. In panic, Theodore looked in the direction of the door leading outside – it was closed tightly. Good. It meant that they were still in here somewhere.

Who knew this would be so hard?

~§~

"Elmer?" repeated Private. "Are you sure?"

"Yup," Skipper said smugly. "I thought that dog looked familiar."

"So, will you help me get him?" asked Max, wringing his paws together.

"What do you think?" Skipper said. "After all, we _do _need to question him. Perhaps he knows where the ducklings are."

Kowalski gave him a sideways glance. "One problem, Skipper. How are we supposed to get from here – to there?" He pointed at the open window.

"We take the stairs and unlock the door. Can't be that hard."

"Maybe," countered Kowalski. "But there's still a lot of people going in and out. Plus, we left our disguise at home."

"That does present a problem," agreed Skipper. "Do you think the grappling gun can reach that ledge?"

Kowalski frowned and took out his clipboard, measuring with his flipper and scribbling equations. "Only one way to find out." He held out a flipper. "Rico, grappling gun, please."

~§~

"Julien! For the last time! You are not getting the key to the penguins' habitat!" shouted Marlene. "Now get out of my house!"

"Why not?" whined the lemur king. "I only want to _borrow_ their TV."

"I know your definition of borrow, and they specifically told me not to let you in – or anybody else for that matter – unless it was an emergency and you needed help!"

"But it is an emergency!"

Marlene placed a paw on her hip. "Oh, really?"

"Yes!" Julien nodded enthusiastically. "This is of upmost importance."

"Think you can tell me why I doubt that?"

~§~

"He's trying to trap us," whispered Ramona.

"I have eyes," Eggy replied crossly. "I can see."

"What's our plan?" asked Samuel, inching away slowly as the man's footsteps passed their hiding place. "It won't be long before he abandons the food and gets a flashlight to shine under the tables."

"Well, has he released Bradley yet?" asked Eggy.

Ramona shook her head. "No. He's still holding him – Wait! Yes! He placed Bradley in a bucket."

Eggy nodded thoughtfully. "We need a distraction."

"A big kind?" questioned Samuel. "Or one to mess with his brain? Make him think that he's seeing things?"

"Um… the latter. What about we split up and run across different hiding places right after each other. He won't know who to capture, and that gives one of us a quick way to get to Bradley without him catching on," said Eggy.

Ramona brightened. "Ooh! I'll go first." She peered around. "He's turning the corner in three. Two. One—" She dashed out, startling the man.

Eggy glanced at Samuel. "Your turn."

Samuel grinned at him. "Don't get caught and good luck!" He sprinted from the hiding spot.

Eggy called after him. "Luck? I don't need it!"

~§~

Maurice gave his king a look as Julien stormed back into the habitat. "I take it Marlene didn't give you the key?"

"Nope." Julien hopped onto his throne. "Why not? I am not understanding the reason."

"It's to do with trust," said Maurice. "She can't just betray the penguins' trust like that."

"Who said so?" huffed Julien. "I am the king! I command her to give it to me. Still, she won't."

Maurice kept his silence. Julien shifted. "Maurice?"

"Yes, your majesty?"

"I have this sudden craving for a mango smoothie."

Maurice sighed. "Sure thing. Coming right up."

~§~

Red walked back to his hideout to find that – apparently – both Nigel and Buck got along well with Blowhole's lobsters. "What in the world is going on here?"

Buck looked at him and rolled his eyes. "Oh, great, here he comes again."

"Geez," added Red One, nudging his partner. "You'd think he has a life other than world domination."

Red's eye twitched. "I never should have left you four together."

"Nope," agreed Nigel. "Definitely not the best idea you've ever had."

Red narrowed his eye at the penguin before spinning to open the cupboards – clearly looking for something. Nigel tilted his head. "What are you looking for?"

"Cloth. Or duct tape. I need something so that I don't have to hear your voice."

Nigel pouted, sticking his tongue out. "You're a meanie."

"And this is why I'm looking to gag you."

~§~

"Maurice!" Julien whispered harshly. "I am to be having the most brilliant idea ever."

"Good for you," his advisor grumbled, wiping one of the glasses.

Julien frowned. "Aren't you supposed to ask me what my brilliant idea is?"

"Do you want me to?"

Mort jumped up and down, waving an arm. "Ooh! I'll ask! I'll ask!"

"See?" Julien shot Maurice a pointed look. "Even Mort gets it."

Maurice sighed. "All right, fine. So, your majesty, what's this brilliant idea of yours?"

The lemur king beamed. "It's fantastic! You know, we want to borrow the flightless birds' TV, right?"

"_You_ want to borrow it. Not us."

"Details." Julien waved it away. "I was thinking, we can do it at night!"

"I hate to break it to you, your majesty, but we'd still be locked out." Maurice opened one of the cupboards to put in the glass.

"That's why we break in instead!"

Maurice nearly dropped the glass. "What?"

"It makes sense, Maurice!" insisted Julien. "No one will be able to see us."

"King Julien makes the best plans," Mort stated solemnly.

Maurice resisted the urge to groan. Why did he feel like this was going to be one of the worst ideas ever?


End file.
